Regime Changes

A regime change is an event of drastic nature.  Generally, regime changes occur when a state is transitioning from a failed state to a democratic one, as it entails the change in all aspects of the existing institute.  Having a transformation of a political regime has huge implications in the respective society, as it can genuinely change the lives of many citizens (in a good way, most of the times).

Change is something that occurs often in the practice of politics.  Throughout history, we have seen the rise and fall of hundreds of regimes.  A regime change/breakdown can occur in many ways.  The three main ways are Economic, Social, and Political causes.

Economic breakdowns occur when “levels of poor economic performance trigger regime changes”.  This theory is based on the idea that as a economy breakdown, the resources are reduced and therefore the regime model is unable to sustain its consistency.  This ultimately leads to a chain reaction of things, which in the end leads to a change.

A Social breakdown can occur when citizens in a state have “expectations” of a future they envision for themselves and their family. Some expectations would include economic benefits, or even simple human rights issues.  However, when these are not met people question the current regime and demand for a “change” so that their plans can be fully met with a new “leader” or regime.

Political breakdowns occur when their is “corruption” in the internal functions of a political regime.  When there is corruption, it creates “economic inefficiencies that make it impossible for the country to develop”  This is also a negative in the long run, as the public will find it hard to trust a leader if they have experienced harsh corruption before.

In a recent article, the writer talks about the current state of Syria and how conflict in the nation has led the U.S and Saudi Arabia to unify strategies to remove the current leader, President Assad.  The article further explains that the U.S (represented by US secretary of State, Hilary Clinton) wants to deploy “Humanitarian aid” however, Saudi Arabia is looking at it in a more direct view, as they wish to deploy military units.

Saudi Arabia along with Qatar advocates military intervention to overthrow the embattled Syrian government with the possibility of troop deployment. The US remains weary of arming the rebels but coincides with Saudi interests insofar as regime change is concerned.

Conditions in Syria have become deadly, and action towards the nation must be imminent in order to ensure safety of others.

LINK: http://rt.com/news/clinton-syria-riyadh-intervention-910/

Interest Groups & Social Movements

For many, getting involved in the political processes can be a extremely difficult one at times.  Either people do not know where to go, or they just have no idea where abouts to start.  As defined in the Dyck textbook, Interest groups and social movements bring together “people with common interests and/or a common sense of identity for the purpose of influencing the political process”.  Furthermore, interest groups and movements are different then political parties, and have no direct relation with the state.  Groups and movements look to influence public policy, and to bring fairness to the people if it is seen that the general public is being mistreated.

Interest groups and movements are formed from independent social organizations, which pursue the interests and beliefs of communities.  Some examples of these institutions would be churches, schools, companies, and families.  Further, public interest groups and movements, for the most part fight for the things that are constantly being threatened by legislatures and new laws.  Groups and movements generally engage in strikes, and demonstrations to further educate others.

With the recent removal of the infamous megaupload website, many interest groups have been fighting for technological freedom, as the closure of this enormous website may spark a chain of events.

These public interest groups are in a constant battle to fight against laws that restrict our freedom or threaten our privacy, or to alter aged laws and policies that don’t keep current with rapidly evolving technology. Their victories—and there are many—have improved the lives of everyone who’s ever owned a tech toy.

Many of these groups believe that our freedom and our privacy more importantly are being threatened, and without any initiative, governments will do whatever they feel like they want too.

LINK: http://www.forbes.com/sites/carolpinchefsky/2012/03/15/4-public-interest-groups-who-are-fighting-for-your-digital-freedom-part-1/

Electoral Systems

The importance of a fair electoral system cannot be emphasized enough.  A system that has set rules in which how YOUR vote can help contribute in the process of obtaining legislative seats is a huge deal, and something that can have large implications.  The process in which votes are translated into seats have been the subject of great debate in multiple countries, more specifically in Canada.  Recently, their has been a large uproar for the Canadian electoral system to change in a attempt to address various concerns.

The results from last years election has lead many to question the integrity of the electoral process, and many are accusing the conservative government for the act of fraud.  Robocalling is an “automated phone call that uses a computerized autodialer and a computer-delivered pre-recorded message.”  The journalist further notes that there have been many reports that “illegal calls took place in dozens of key swing ridings all over the country”.  Furthermore “All indications point to this being a systematic campaign to mislead non-Conservative voters”.

With all that said, many are suggesting that Canada should change their electoral system much like New Zealand or Japan have done recently in a attempt to adress these fraudulent concerns.

Personally, i feel like our electoral system has done us well up to this point.  But if people are suggesting we use a more “representative” system, i would suggest us to follow the trend of most nations, and use the proportional representation system.

LINK: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Integrity+voting+system+under+question/6269251/story.html

Legislatures

Legislations are an integral part to any democratic society, and are often the focus of talks in these nations.  Legislations often dictate the success, and/or the failure of a country.  As stated in the textbook, legislatures are “an institution with primary responsibility to enact laws”.  Furthermore, a legislature is also used to represent the people, to assist in debating public issues, and to represent every citizen equally.

With the recent proposal of a new crime bill by Stephan Harper, many are skeptical of the focus of the new legislation and feel that resources being used in the proposed bill can be utilized in a more effective way if spent in different areas.  One of the main goals of the new crime bill is to get “tougher” on crime and drugs.  More specifically, a plan to build more prisons so that we can lock up more “criminals”.  Something that has sparked huge debate.  In addition, the amount of mandatory minimums that the new bill has proposed has been called into question for the sole reason that need for more prisons will be a must, and therefore more money being spent into these facilities.

In this recent article, the journalists suggest that as a nation, we are making the same mistakes that has lead to the chaos in the U.S.

As has been the case in the U.S., mandatory minimums can easily go wrong in Canada, too, in ways entirely predictable. Exploding court and correctional costs for resource-strapped national and provincial governments is one likely calamity that Canadians can expect from mandatory minimum sentencing laws.

Furthermore, the journalists emphasizes the damage that the U.S legislation of more mandatory minimums has had on the justice system, and pleads for our nation Canada to not follow the same road.  As legislation like such, can hurt the credibility of a government in the long run.

LINK: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/opinion/op-ed/Canada+repeating+mistakes+drug+sentencing/6224266/story.html

Constitutions.

In chapter 6 of the Dyck textbook, Constitutions is defined as ”a body of fundamental laws, rules, and practices that defines the basic structures of government, allocates power among governmental institutions, and regulates the relationship between citizens and the state”.  Additionally, constitutions are suppose to seek out the best interest of the citizens, and provide everyone equal opportunities.  One specific function of the constitution defined in the textbook is “To regulate relations between the citizen and the state”.  However, issues of the U.S constitution about that specific function has been coming to the forefront recently.

In a recent article, the issues of the U.S constitution not offering “entitlements” such as healthcare make it outdated, and unpractical in our day and age.  The author explains further,

The United States Constitution is terse and old, and it guarantees relatively few rights. The commitment of some members of the Supreme Court to interpreting the Constitution according to its original meaning in the 18th century may send the signal that it is of little current use to, say, a new African nation. And the Constitution’s waning influence may be part of a general decline in American power and prestige.

Personally, i agree with the fact that constitutions should include basic entitlements and needs such as healthcare.  As a grateful Canadian citizen I can definitely see the benefits of having a well functioning (for the most part) health care system.

LINK: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203824904577215310175957208.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Social and Economic Inequality

The debate of Social and Economic inequality has been a huge contributor to political arguments around the world.  However, in recent times, the gap between the rich and the poor has been well documented, especially in countries like the U.S.A and Canada (much more severe in America).

Their are many theoretical approaches to analyze the issue of inequality.  A few mentioned in the text are ideas such as Liberalism, where it insists that “each individual should be equally free to pursue his or her own goals and desires, without discrimination based on an individual characteristic”.  Another would be the idea of Socialism, which emphasizes the idea of “material inequality, and the equal access to the resources in the community”.  And finally the concept of Communism, which states “for justice to be achieved, it is argued, the fundamental inequality of classes — most importantly, the gap between the bourgeoisie and the workers — must be addressed at its root”.

All approaches have their positives and negatives, but it is about establishing and maintaining a fair and EQUAL state.  If that isn’t accomplished, than you will see repercussions such as the Wall street movement a few months ago, which eventually spread to many other countries/cities around the world to educate everyday people about the flaws in our worlds system.

The economic situation in America has been well documented over the last few years, and it has also been heavily scrutinized and broken down.  In this article, president Obama at his annual State of Union policy, denounced the economic inequality…

We can either settle for a country where a shrinking number of people do really well, while a growing number of Americans barely get by. Or we can restore an economy where everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules

LINK: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5hbkeTiZ5I63WyR533NIa8xDR2X2g?docId=N0113241327457935379A

Globalization VS Nationalism

As noted in Chapter three of the textbook, Globalization is known as “the transformative growth of connections among people across the planet”.  Contrast that to Nationalism, which notes that it is “an ideology that holds that certain populations are nations, that the world is divided into nations, and that a nation should be self-determining”.

In recent times, experts have noted the popularity of globalization growing within specific nations around the world, and that “pure bred” nations are becoming victims of the global expansion.  Personally, I do feel that over the last decade or so the global interaction between various nations whether it be close (i.e. Canada and the U.S) or far (Canada and China) has risen tremendously.  Compared to the nationalistic view, which is widely seen as obsolete in todays world.

A major contributor to this is just how the global market place has expanded over the years.  Many of our products that we consumers buy today are not products from local farmers, or local toy factories etc.  They are products that are made from countries thousands of miles away.  This way of us getting our products is pulling us away from our roots, and is embedding the thought to our generations that everything we have or can get can just be bought somewhere.

In a recent article about Hungary, it explains how the country has fallen due to the global expansion of the world and that the nation of Hungary must return to “Nationalistic” view in order to revive itself.

After the turn of the millennium, Hungary became the first Eastern European victim of globalization, as many foreign companies moved further east. Large chunks of the country’s economy, such as the agricultural and food industries, were too underdeveloped to survive the country’s accession to the EU in 2004.

LINK: http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,809827,00.html

New era for North Korea?

Chapter 2 of the Studying Politics textbook explains different types of governments, states, and nations around the world.  More specifically, it goes into detail about different governments and the styles that vary around the world.  Further into the chapter, the text begins to talk about Modern Nondemocratic Governments.  Nations that are often referred to as dictatorships, which are then generally divided into authoritarian and totalitarian states.

These types of governments (more specifically totalitarian) hold all power within every aspect of your daily life, and will do anything to maintain their position of power.  There is no power given to citizens, and in most cases their rights are also few and far between.

With North Korea being one of the only nations in the world with a totalitarian government, questions have been raised recently about their future, and if they will continue with there current way of life after the passing of Kim Jong-il.

In a recent article done by BBC News, Lucy Williamson finds some reasons to believe that the current regime in North Korea may be changed.  She notes that Kim Jong-un (the new leader) is more “youthful” and has had “two years of school in Europe” which have sparked speculation that he may have “a different perspective on government”.

However, the state issued this to clear any confusion up

In fact, North Korea has already said as much. Shortly after Kim Jong-il’s death last month, it issued a scornful statement via state media, warning that “foolish politicians around the world, including in South Korea, should not expect any changes from us”.

Personally, as a citizen who has been raised in a stable and well governed nation (i’d like to think so) I truly believe that this is the wrong decision.  With the passing of Kim Jong-il, North Korea has a chance to change their perspective of things and really establish them selves in a world wide platform.  With the new leader Kim Jong-un the chances of him eliminating the well publicized ineffective government design that is totalitarianism may have increased.  We will just have to wait and see.

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